Day Five

Early wake up for training day two and I hang around with my Flora who's leaving at 9am. I whip my hair back and forth to dry it while she checks in her flight. We hear the taxi arriving so we lightly hug with the hope to see each other again.

I wiggle around a bit more as the early birds start appearing for breakfast. I'm behind the desk with Maryam. Antony comes and let's us know he'll be leaving around 12. He goes out to get money and around 11 he hands in his keys. We take a break from training and I approach him at the dining table while spreading out puzzle pieces. I start putting the pieces together and look up at him.

'How are you feeling?'

'Um... Quite sad..!'

He's French and his English is not so fluent.

'It has been the most English I ever heard in my life during a week. It help me a lot to improve.'

Then he asks if I would like some tea. I say yes of course and he makes me one. He places it between the puzzle pieces.

'I will miss you!' I blurb.

And my gut gets a little tied up realising that every time I've been around him he's made me tea. Realising that our communication was never based on intellectual conversations but rather on pure, caring, considerate gestures.

Then I drop a light one;

'So you will cry in the bus?'

'Ah no, boys don't cry!' he says jokingly.

The time comes, he lifts his backpack, hangs it on his shoulders and hugs me. He smiles and winks as if to say take care of yourself in the most non-sexual loving way.

I awkwardly walk towards the couches, and before I have time to save the moment I hear Roman reading out French poetry to, well, the cat, I'm guessing.

'[Je de floop flee

Sleh pu le la lu blah,]

Dormer,

Rever,

[De la floop flah]'

'What does [de la floop flah] mean??'

'It mean <I will be gone>'

He slaps the book shut, places it on the shelf and walks off. I stay staring at the shelf thinking- this isn't happening right;! One of the most surreal French scenes of my life indeed.

I walk around without direction and try to rewind the scene in my head. I walk to the puzzle, then to my dorm, Sarah calls me for tea and I say 'I already have one' as the curtains close and I'm still figuring out how to deal with goodbyes.

12am. Good afternoon.